What this Phood is all about

Sometimes it’s weird to sit back and think about how you got to a point in your life. For me it’s weird to think about my passion and affection for food, because my life has not always been so influenced by food. As a young kid I was an extremely picky eater. I wouldn’t eat very many different things, and the things that I would eat I would only eat a few bites of. My sister and my mom used to joke with me and tell me that I looked like a Somolian child. I was skinny to the point that it did not look healthy, but as I got older
my tastes changed, and I grew into the adventurous eater I am today. I learned that one of the best ways to experience different cultures other than traveling and spending time in other countries, is through food.

Thinking back on it, it is hard to pinpoint one time in my life that changed my passion to for food, but if I
really had to narrow it down, I would think that it leads back to my first encounter with the Philadelphia cheesesteak. I grew up in southern New Jersey, about 40 minutes from Philadelphia. Naturally growing up I spent a lot of time in Philadelphia at sports games, but particularly Philadelphia Flyers games because I played hockey for many years and I am a huge fan of both the game and the Flyers. The first time that I got a Philadelphia cheesesteak was at a Flyers game, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did not realize at the time that there were places in Philadelphia that specifically specialized in cheesesteaks because like I said I grew up a
picky eater, so how was I to know about the Geno’s and the Pat’s of this world?

Well as I got older and got my driver's license and started going to Flyers games without my parents, I began to hear about my friends going to Geno’s or Pat’s before the games to get cheesesteaks. I of course was very curious, so I did this with my friends before a game once and my life has never been the same. I am an absolute cheesesteak junky as any Philadelphia raised person is. However, my love for the cheesesteak, that being a real Philly cheesesteak, wiz wit of course, led me to want to find all of the hole in the wall places in Philadelphia that people go to get their favorite cheesesteaks. I wanted to go to every place in Philly that people said was the best, so that I could really know where the best cheesesteak was.

Since that time I have made my way to a few different cheesesteak places, about 10 in total, and I still have to say that Jim’s on South Street is number 1 in my book, but my whole life involving food has been dramatically different since that time. Not only have I started eating differently, but I have picked up a desire to cook and try new recipes all the time. I watch food related shows whenever I am watching television. I would say about 75% of the shows I watch are some sort of show on the food network or the travel channel, with my favorites being Iron Chef America, Diners Drive-Ins and Dives, Man Vs. Food, and
Best Thing I Ever Ate. These shows all feed into my desire to find the hole in the wall, off the beaten path places that serve great food for cheap. That has expanded into finding out all that I can about the Philadelphia and South Jersey suburbs food scene seeing as  it has grown so much in the past few years. People like Jose Garces and Stephen Starr have completely revamped the city in terms of dining, and they have made so much more incredible competition in the restaurant business, which only benefits me and the people out there like me that love food.

Almost every day I imagine myself becoming a chef or a food critic or a restaurateur. It has become a passion of mine, almost an obsession, and I am trying to express myself in the best way that I can in the moment by writing about my experiences. Most of my experiences will be eating at restaurants in the area, but from time to time I will throw in something about cooking, or maybe an entry about something cool I learned or watched about food. Hopefully you will find it entertaining, and maybe it will open your eyes to the world I have become so enveloped in. Upcoming entries that I have planned but I am sure more will get added in the meantime: Tre Famiglia, La Locanda, Amada, Tinto, and Le-Bec-Fin. Cheers!